MESA Ariz.
Police who patrol Maricopa County Community College District campuses won’t be armed until at least next year despite a new state law requiring them to carry guns that takes effect next week.
Chancellor Rufus Glasper said the district will obey the law, but needs time to write its first policy on guns that doesn’t simply ban them. A district spokesman contends government agencies are allowed a grace period when new laws take effect.
However, the law’s chief sponsor said the district is required to arm its officers and that without them its campuses are unsafe.
“I don’t need another witness. What I need is a person who can take action,” said state Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa.
People have brought guns onto the Mesa Community College campus twice this year and threatened to fire them, most recently on Wednesday.
Maricopa County colleges are the state’s only major higher education institutions that don’t allow their officers to carry guns. The college board has repeatedly voted against weapons even as it grew into the nation’s largest community college system.
